Silver in the Moonlight
by Agent Malkere
Summary: Some people think differently in the moonlight and sometimes events must make us rethink what we believe. AlexisChazz but not the way you think. Rather out of the ordinary and doesn't really fit well into a specific catigory.
1. Chapter 1

**_Silver in the Moonlight_**

_By Agent Malkere _

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. I write fan fiction and therefore have no need of explaining this. **

_A/N: This story is a little strange. If you're confused at first, don't worry! Things will become clearer as you read. Because I never got around to putting it in, Zane is in the infirmary because he was in a bad accident – but no worries, he'll be fine. Please enjoy!_

The moonlight made his skin glow a soft silver and his hair even more prominently shadow black. The white bandages wrapped around his chest and arms almost melted into his body, becoming one with him; hiding his pain like he always had in the past. The hard angles of his face smoothed and softened under the moonbeams' gentle touch. Soft – that wasn't normally a word she'd associate with him. Stubborn – yes, arrogant – yes, coarse – yes, unfeeling – yes, but soft? No. She must be more tired than she thought.

Pushing several long strands of dirty blonde hair out of her face, Alexis slowly stood up and stretched her tired limbs as she continued to stare at the boy lying in the bed on the far side of the infirmary next to the window. She yawned quietly then glanced back at Zane over whom she had been keeping a silent visual so Syrus could get some sleep. Zane wouldn't be waking up right now, even if he wasn't in a chemically induced coma to help him make it through the worst of the pain, the medication he was being given would have made him drowsy. She knew he wouldn't mind if she left him for a few minutes; it wasn't be as though she'd be leaving the room or anything. Besides, Zane had been getting visitors all day, whether he knew it or not, and only Jaden had come to check on the infirmary's other patient.

Alexis took a few steps forward then stopped; a horrible ball of conflicting emotions writhing and twisting in the bottom of her rib cage. Her exhaustion was probably the only thing making this seem like a good idea. Oh, well. Sitting beside someone for a few minutes wouldn't hurt anything. She moved forward again, her boots making muted clicks as they struck the tiled floor. As softly as possible, Alexis reached out and pulled a chair up next to his bed, then sat down just as a cloud passed in front of the moon throwing his face back into shadows. With the moonlight gone, the oxygen mask fitted securely over his nose and mouth contrasted harshly with his pale skin. From her seat next to his bed, Alexis could also now see the dark purple bruise staining his right cheekbone. The bruise she had given him. Alexis was being to regret doing that. She wasn't sure anymore that Chazz had really deserved it. She closed her eyes, remembering….

_As Alexis lay, aching, on the ground her mind desperately tried to sort out what was going on. What had happened? All she knew was that she had lost, but at what? The wait of a duel disk on her left arm answered that question, but against who? Alexis struggled to remember, not wanting to open her eyes until she was in complete control of the situation again. Finally, her most resent memory surfaced. Chazz! She had been dueling Chazz to save the Obelisk Blue dorm and stop it from becoming the White dorm! Chazz had been about to attack with his final monster which would have wiped out the rest of her life points… and she had just lost the duel she was in. That meant she had failed! Chazz and his creepy Society of Light were going to take over the Blue dorm now because of her! Well, they wouldn't get her without a fight. _

_She slowly opened her eyes and blinked, trying to bring the blurry world into focus. Alexis could hear voices and running feet coming towards her. A pair of boots stopped about a foot away. _

"_Alexis! Are you alright?" A hand reached down towards her and she grasped it, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. Alexis swayed slightly as the world finally slid into focus. A hand hesitantly steadied her. "Are you okay?" the voice asked again. Wait a minute! That voice belonged to Chazz! The person she'd just lost to, who was planning on destroying the Obelisk Blue dorm! Alexis focused on the teenager standing in front of her, spiky raven black hair as always jutting out over his forehead, dark eyes as inscrutable as ever. A worried, almost pained expression was on his face, mingling with something that might have been hope. Something about Chazz was different from her last memory of him commanding his monster to attack, but fiery anger and rage at what was about to be done to Obelisk because of him made her ignore this discrepancy. Just as he was about to repeat his previous question, Alexis curled her hand into a fist and punched Chazz in the face as hard as she could, which turned out to be a lot harder than she had expected. _

_Chazz went flying backwards into the oncoming Jaden, Syrus, Hassleberry, and Atticus. Wait, Atticus? What was he doing here? Alexis didn't remember him being there when the duel had started. _

"_Wh- What was that for?" gasped Chazz confusion and hurt warring for dominance over his expression as Jaden helped him to his feet. The others had stopped nervously several feet farther back – out of the range of her fists. _

"_Obelisk Blue!" Alexis snarled, something she wouldn't normally do as a rule, but there's an exception to every rule. "I know you're not an Obelisk any more Chazz, but how could you?!? How can you destroy Obelisk Blue to make way for your retched Society of Light and all with a clear conscience?!?!?!?" He stared at her, dark eyes wide, as desperation joined the emotional battle being waged across his face. _

"_I don't know what you're talking about…." _

"_Um, Alexis?" Jaden cut in before she could start shouting again. "You _do _know who you just dueled, right?" _

"_Of course, him!" She jabbed a finger at Chazz who shrank back as though he had just been stabbed. She about to continue when Jaden once more interrupted her tirade,_

"_Uh, no." He grinned uncomfortably and nervously ran a hand though his hair. "Actually, you just dueled me!" Alexis stared at Jaden, finally taking in the activated duel disk on his left arm. She glanced at Chazz again, no sign of a duel disk and his deck was in its normal place on his belt. The thing that had been bothering her about his appearance finally clicked into place. He was wearing all black again for the first time since Jaden had disappeared. She frowned at him; Chazz shifted his weight from one foot to the other and avoided her gaze. _

"_Where's that stupid white uniform of yours that you've been flaunting around school lately?" she asked sharply. Chazz flinched and stared off towards the stadium seats around the dueling arena. _

"_I hate white," he snapped. Alexis stared at him, then at Jaden, then at Syrus, Hassleberry, and Atticus who were all looking extremely uncomfortable. Jaden cleared his throat,_

"_Uh, yeah, we've got a lot of explaining to do, Lex, so it's gonna take a while. And you probably won't be too happy about hearing any of it…." _

Opening her eyes again, Alexis sighed. She still couldn't remember anything between the final move in her duel with Chazz and the explosion when she lost her duel with Jaden. Several weeks of her life – gone. But Chazz…. She watched the uneven rise and fall of the teenager's chest beneath the bandages. Chazz's period of memory loss could be measured better in months than in weeks or days. No one had even noticed that he had been brainwashed until he had started converting the rest of the Academy to the Society of Light. Everyone had just assumed that crazy Chazz Princeton had finally gone off the deep end this time.

The cloud which had been hiding the moon finally passed and pale, silver light once more pored through the window and across the bed. The black haired teenager stirred in his sleep, his body suddenly going ridged as his dreams where overthrown by nightmares. Without thinking, Alexis reached out and brushed her fingers across his forehead in a comforting manner, pushing some of the hair away from his face. His body relaxed and he lay still once more. Alexis pulled her hand away hurriedly and rubbed her eyes. _I shouldn't stay up this late – it does strange things to my head. I can't believe I just did that! That's Chazz, who is as of this moment the source of most of my problems, and I shouldn't be feeling sorry for him!_ _ And that's all I'm feeling for him – sorry._

Alexis gently massaged her temples and yawned again quietly. Tomorrow, Jaden could take the night shift and have the moonlight wreak havoc on _his_ emotional state. She almost got up to go back to her seat beside Zane, but she hesitated. There wasn't any point in running away from the situation because it was one that she had created and she was the only person involved, except for Chazz and he didn't really count because he was unconscious and therefore unaware that there even was a situation. She might as well think things out here as over by Zane. Anyway, this chair was more comfortable than the other one had been. Leaning back and staring up at the nearly full moon which had climbed high into the night sky, Alexis let memory sweep her away once more….

_Even though it was her third night back in the Slifer Red dorm, Alexis still couldn't sleep. Finally tiring of staring at the cracked ceiling and giving up, for now, on the prospect of sleep, she rolled out of bed and slid on a pair of shoes. Pulling on a coat on over her pajamas – wearing a nightgown in Slifer wasn't a good idea since the dorm's population was ninety percent male – she stepped quietly outside and tip-toed silently down the wooden steps, jumping over the final two which creaked notoriously and landing softly in the darkness. _

_Her feet began to walk the familiar path down towards the Lighthouse; she'd always been able to do some of her best thinking down there by the gentle swirling and splashing of the waves. She shoved her hands into her pockets shivering slightly as the wind whipped her long hair around her face. She'd forgotten to tie it back before she left. Oh, well. She had no desire to go back for a while yet. _

_The tang of cold ocean salt seemed to clear her head and make her thoughts more defined. After quickly glancing to make doubly sure that absolutely nobody was around, she took several quick steps with a grace which belied her years of dance classes and figure skating and let herself twirl beneath the moonlight, long coat flaring up around her. Suddenly for no apparent reason filled with energy instead of the lethargy of sleep deprivation, Alexis took several bounding steps and twirled twice more before continuing down toward the Lighthouse feeling much better than when she had started out. _

_She was on the crest of the cliffs above the Lighthouse when she noticed the figure standing in her favorite spot out on the end of the pier staring out across the ocean. She squinted trying to make out who it was, unable to think of anyone else who would be out there at this time of night, but she was still too far away to make out any details which could be of any use to identify the mysterious person. Curiosity made the hike down the steep cliff path to the Lighthouse seem twice as long as usual and she soon lost sight of the figure behind the expanse of whitewashed stonework. By the time Alexis reached the bottom of the path the waxing moon overhead had reach the peak of its celestial arc across the star-strewn dark and had begun its slow decent towards the ocean's surface. The figure was still where she had last seen him at the far end of the pier still staring out over the wave crests. _

_From this distance, Alexis could make out enough detail to identify the person, or, at least, his coat. Chazz Princeton's signature black coat could only be taken away from its owner by murder and Alexis was fairly sure she hadn't seen any blood around the Slifer dorm when she had left. So what was he doing out here? She began to walk slowly down the pier towards him. Alexis hadn't wanted company and, if she had, Chazz would have been her last choice, but the sea was calling her and more than anything else she wanted to be out there on the end of the pier with the ocean spray blowing in her face and clearing her thoughts. _

_Chazz didn't look up as she approached apparently too lost in his own thoughts to hear her crunching footsteps. His arms were wrapped tightly around his chest to hold in warmth against the chill night air. The wind which was stronger and gustier coming off the ocean snatched at the bottom of his long coat causing it to snap and swirl out behind him and showing that he too had left bed and come on here on a whim. Under his coat he was wearing dark green sweatpants and an ancient gray t-shirt which hung on his thin frame. Alexis half smiled and could almost hear Jaden saying, _Chazz wearing color! The end of the world is near!

_She stopped about five feet away from him and stared out over the water as the moon's reflection danced across the curling waves. Alexis glanced sideways at Chazz again as a gasp whipped his hair against his face. The flying tails of his coat almost made it look like he had black wings unfolding from his back. As she continued to watch out of the corner of her eye, Chazz bent his head so his chin was nearly touching his chest his hair obscuring most of the face from view. She was about to turn away when her eyes by now accustom to the dark spotted the trail of silvery moonlight reflecting off of his cheek. This time surprise made her openly stare. Was Chazz… crying? Was he even capable of crying? Alexis hadn't thought so until now. _

_He brought his sleeve up and wiped his eyes mumbling something under his breath that Alexis couldn't make out then pulling his coat collar higher up around his neck he began to turn to head back to the Slifer dorm. And spotted Alexis standing only a few feet away. He jumped and staggered backwards in surprise. If Alexis hadn't reached out and grabbed his arm Chazz would have fallen into the icy, churning ocean water below. She could still see his body trembling from the surge of adrenaline which his system had just received even as he tried to regain his dignity. It took him several moments to form a coherent sentence, _

"_What are you doing here?" _

"_Couldn't sleep," she answered honestly even though it wasn't completely true. "Why are you out here?" _

"_I was just… thinking…" he trailed off and she just barely heard him whisper, "Trying to remember." _

"_Trying to remember what?" Jasmine and Mindi must be rubbing off her more than she had thought, she'd never been this nosy in the past. He looked away apparently having not intended for her to hear that. _

"_Nothing," he sighed his breath coming out now in a white plume of fog. Alexis shivered, had it really gotten that cold out? Chazz glanced at her then changed the subject, "I'm going to head back to Slifer and you should too it's long past midnight." Looking slightly embarrassed Chazz turned away, "Anyway, bye." _

_Alexis watched him trudge up the path back towards the Red dorm until he was out of sight then turned her attention back to the sea and her own lost memories. _

Alexis blinked and rubbed her eyes. She didn't like where this was going, didn't like the conclusions her own emotions and memories were trying to bring her to, but she'd have to deal with this sooner or later and it was best to get it over with now while Chazz wasn't around to make things awkward. By the time he woke up, she'd be back to normal and able to ignore him just as well as ever. Not that she really wanted to ignore him… right now that was. She just had to sort this all through and everything would be alright.

Leaning forward, Alexis rested her chin in one cupped hand and pushed a few more strands of black hair out of his face. There was just one last memory before she had to relive and the thought of it terrified her but she had to be strong. She had to face her fears. Without realizing she was doing it, Alexis shifted her position and gently took one his hands in hers then closed her eyes…

_Right! That was it! If she ever found out which duelist had wagered his boom box in his duel with Jaden, Alexis was going to hunt that duelist down _and kill him_ – in lots of nasty and creative ways. Earlier that evening, Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry had discovered several cases of caffeinated soda and now, at nearly 11 o'clock, were all on sugar and caffeine highs and listening to Rock 'n Roll music on the newly acquired boom box with the volume cranked up as far as it could go. She was fairly sure that if they kept it up much longer the sound waves would cause the mainly unstable structure of the Slifer dorm to crumble and collapse. Maybe if the dorm falling apart would make the music stop. That would be a bonus, and then she might actually be able to get some studying done. _

_Squaring her shoulders, Alexis marched out of her room and several doors down to where the music reached such a level that she had to clamp her hands over her ears to prevent premature deafness. Hoping that she wouldn't be needing her left ear in the future quite as much as her right, Alexis used her left hand to yank open the door. Even louder music – which she wouldn't have believed possible if she hadn't experienced it – blared at her. Her presence in the room went completely unnoticed by its three occupants, that is, until she turned off the music. _

"_What did you do that for?" whined Jaden who was bouncing on the top bunk with a sock over each ear for no apparent reason. _

"_It is nearly eleven o'clock," Alexis stated evenly, trying desperately to keep her temper under control. _

_Jaden shrugged, _

"_Yeah, so? We were discussing new dueling strategies." _

"_Really?" Alexis raised an eyebrow at him. "Then I guess you won't be needing this." She calmly hefted the boom box in one hand and sauntered out of the room to the great protests of the boys but she ignored them. Finally some peace and quiet… _

_Alexis stiffened as she heard banging coming from Chazz's room. Not more noise! What did a girl have to do to be able to study in this place?!? Well she'd had it up to here with the Slifer male population and noise tonight and she was going to be the avenging angel of silent right now! _

"_Chazz Princeton will you stop making such an infernal racket!!! Whatever you're doing can wait until MORNING!!!" There were a few more thumps then silence. She had expected some snide remark to be thrown at her from the other side of the door, but none came. Chazz was probably just too tired to come up with something snappy enough to say. Alexis waited a few moments to make sure Chazz was really going to stay quiet this time. Satisfied she was turning to leave when she heard the glass smashing. Glass smashing? That had sounded like a window. _

"_Chazz, are you alright in there?" she called the previously biting edge to her voice gone. There was no response. "Chazz?" She tried the door knob – locked. For some reason, Alexis glanced down at the floor in front of the door. The edge of something was sticking out from under the door. The edge of two somethings actually. She bent down and pulled them out – they were Duel Monster cards… _

_She didn't start yelling for Jaden and the others until she flipped the cards face up and suddenly found Ojama Yellow and the Level Ten Armored Dragon staring up at her. _

"_What is it, Lex?" asked Jaden, screeching to a halt next to her. She handed him the cards, _

"_They were sticking out from under his door," she said flatly. _

_Jaden's eyes widened, _

"_We've got to get in there!" _

"_Allow me, Sarge." The group stood back as Hassleberry got a good footing, squared his shoulders, and then charged at the door shoulder first. The door never stood a chance. The door flew off its hinges and the group trooped in hesitantly. Chazz's room, which had never been exactly organized in the first place, was now a disaster zone. The bedside table was over turned, the lamp smashed, papers strewn everywhere, broken glass, and Duel Monster cards littered the floor – to be more precise, Chazz's dueling deck. The window was smashed and the curtains snapped and flapped in the draught that had been created. His black coat was hanging from the edge of the bed. In the darkness, Alexis's eyes picked out dark splotches on the walls and bed covers. No… _

_As if in a dream, Alexis's feet carried her forward towards the far side of the bed. The first thing she saw was a hand, a thin pale hand, fingers slightly curled, palm up, arm flung backwards as if reaching for something. On the arm were the smashed remnants of a duel disk which looked as though it had been attacked with a knife while being used as a sort of shield and where ever the duel disk hadn't covered the arm, blood seeped out of numerous knife cuts. The arm was still thankfully attached to his body… his body. His shirt had been ripped open to expose his pale chest. Blood oozed from the long deep gashes crisscrossing the bare skin. Alexis's knees suddenly gave way and she crumpled to the ground next to him feeling like a part of her heart had just been wrenched out of her body. He was dead…. The others were standing behind her by now in various stages of disbelief and horror. Hand shaking Alexis reached out and brushed her fingers against his cheek and nearly jumped out of her skin when he stirred. His eyes opened slightly and tried to focus on her, _

"_Alexis…?" he whispered. His voice was hoarse and shaky and terrifyingly faint. A faint tingling sensation ran up her spine. She comfortingly took hold of his hand. _

"_I'm here. Ly still." The corner of his mouth twitched and his eyes slid closed again. Still holding his hand, Alexis began issuing orders, "Jaden, call for help! Hassleberry, alert security that there's an unsuccessful murderer loose on the island! Syrus, find something to help stop the bleeding until help gets here!" The boys scurried to complete their assigned tasks. Alexis sat on the floor with Chazz's head on a pillow on her lap doing her best to quiet him whenever he woke up and brush her own frightened tears away one handed. It seemed to take years for the medical staff to arrive and load Chazz onto a stretcher to be whisked away to the infirmary to be given a blood transfusion. _

_Alexis stood in the doorway of his room and helplessly watched them go; there was nothing more she could do. _

Alexis reached up and brushed away the tears which had started to form again in the corners of her eyes. He had survived. After all that horror, he had survived. And suddenly, Alexis didn't care that she liked him more than she had ever liked anyone in her life. It didn't feel wrong anymore, just different… and a little strange, but she could get used to it. The hollow which she hadn't realized existed until it was gone in her chest suddenly stopped aching as it was finally filled. Smiling slightly, she leaned forward and gently kissed his temple in the pale silver moonlight. Then she sat back and closed her eyes and gently drifted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hey! Um… I actually intended this to be a one shot (don't ask why, my mind works in strange and twisted ways sometimes), but after reading your reviews I felt compelled to write more – so I'm not guaranteeing that this chapter will be as good as the last or as long, but I'll do my absolute best to keep the quality up to snuff! Hope you enjoy!_

The man stabbed again at him with the knife braking off yet another piece of the duel disk Chazz had grabbed for a shield when the psychopath, or whatever he was, had pulled out the knife. He'd given up screaming for help, no one could hear him over Jaden's music and now it was just a waist of the precious little energy he had left. Chazz could _feel _the life seeping out of him as the blood trickled down his arms and torso. He couldn't keep this up much longer; soon he wouldn't be able to fight back at all. And then the man wouldn't slit his throat, for some reason Chazz knew that he would be left unconscious to bleed to death.

The man suddenly lunged forward and, before Chazz could dodge, had grabbed a double fistful of the teenager's shirt. He hauled him off his feet then slammed Chazz bodily against the wall. Then again and again until Chazz was so stunned and dazed and in so much pain that he could barely think straight, let alone fight back. The stranger tossed him to the ground and proceeded to rip open the teen's shirt. _What the heck is this maniac doing?_

"Chazz Princeton will you stop making such an infernal racket!!! Whatever you're doing can wait until MORNING!!!" Chazz stiffened at the sound. Alexis! She was right on the other side of his door! If he could just somehow let her know that he was in trouble, then he might live…. With a sudden surge of strength he struggled, tried to pull free, to call out but his efforts were rewarded by being slammed against the floor several more times. His world slowly spun into black and memory as the knife blade began to carve a deep gash across his bare chest….

_There was a long crack spreading across the ceiling above him like a spider web and after staring at it for nearly two hours Chazz could have sworn that it was moving. He rolled onto his stomach and glanced at the clock beside his bed. Ugh, it was eleven thirty. With a sigh he sat up, then hesitantly pulled out one of his earplugs. Good, for once the annoying mutants were asleep, now if he was really quiet he might be able to make it out of his room without waking them up. Why did duel spirits need to sleep anyway? Not that he was complaining. _

_Slipping his bare feet into the shoes next to the bed, Chazz grabbed his black coat and crept to the door as quietly as possible and then slipped out into the darkness. At last, free! Now if he could just make it down those stairs without waking up the entire dorm, he'd be golden. _

_The world glowed an eerie silver in the pale moonlight as his feet carried him away from the Slifer dorm. Slifer. It was sort of ironic that now, out the entire group, only he and Jaden were _actually _Slifer Reds. Even Syrus had moved up to Ra Yellow. Sighing, he kicked at a rock on the path in front of him and watched it arc away over the edge of the cliff only to be swallowed by the crashing ocean breakers below. Why did everything in his life have to end up being so blasted ironic? When he'd been an Obelisk Blue, he'd always scoffed at Jaden for being a Slifer and now he was one too. He'd run away from Duel Academy and become the best duelist at North Academy, only to come back to DA. He'd thought having one duel spirit following him around was bad enough, now he had an entire deck full of the things! And then there was this whole mess with Sartorius and his Society of Light… _

_Chazz glanced back in the direction he had come from but the dorm was now hidden from his view behind the bulk of the Lighthouse. At least Alexis was back now. Had he really done that to her? He absently fingered the bruise on his cheek that she had given him after her duel with Jaden. Apparently, he had… but it was Alexis. How could he have done something like that to Alexis? Why would he have done that to her? _

_He stopped and glanced down as he suddenly realized that he had reached the end of the pier by the Lighthouse. A few more steps and he'd be swallowed by the black ocean below and would probably drown as he was dragged out to sea by one of the numerous rip tides that surrounded the beaches of Academy Island. Not that anybody would really care if he disappeared. Right now, he was the least popular person in the school, nobody trusted him anymore – not even Atticus. Not that he could really blame them. They said he'd done some horrible things to people, like Alexis. Even level headed Bastion had somehow ended up brainwashed in the Society of Light. And he, Chazz Princeton, had 'converted' them all and been Sartorius's right hand man. Or, at least, that was what the others said had happened. They had fairly oozed sarcasm when they'd told him, too, and Chazz could almost hear them thinking – _But of course, you remember that. You don't really have amnesia, you're just pretending. You probably _enjoyed_ being in the Society of Light._ They had refused to believe him. Nothing he could say would change their minds. They didn't understand that he'd never willingly inflict this much pain on himself._

_Only Alexis understood, but she had been avoiding Chazz ever since Sartorius had finally lost his hold on her three days ago. She was the only one who actually believed him because she couldn't remember anything either. Everyone was willing to believe her, though, which was good. He wouldn't have been able to bare it if she had to go through this too. _

_The wind whipped around Chazz's legs and sent a shiver up his spine. The temperature had drop considerably since he'd left the dorm. Oh well, it felt good just to be able to get away from everyone and think. He crossed his arms across his chest as another cold gust blew from the ocean and he reflexively rubbed his upper arms to stop them from getting numb. Chazz flinched and quickly stopped as he felt pain stab wherever his fingers touched. Oh, yeah. He'd almost forgotten about one of his other mementos from his time in the Society of Light – the dozens of razor cuts all over his upper arms in various stages of healing which meant he'd been cutting himself for a fairly long time while he had been brainwashed. It was his only proof that he _hadn't_ been completely happy about throwing it in with Sartorius's lot when he'd been acting like that freaky tarot card guy's puppet, but he hadn't mentioned it to anybody – it would have brought up too many painful questions about his past, like why he would have even have thought about cutting himself in the first place. He didn't want to be forced to remember why he had resorted to pain, all that mattered was that he had stopped after that whole thing with North Academy and hadn't purposefully cut himself in over a year. Well, it would have been over a year if it hadn't been for Sartorius. _

_He stared out over the silver tipped black waves. All of this wouldn't be quite so bad if he could just remember what had happened instead of having his imagination try to fill in the blanks. But no matter how hard he tried to over come the wall in his mind, all he ever found was that terrifying black void of nothingness between the end of his duel with Sartorius to suddenly finding himself dueling Jaden with a freakish monster that he had never seen before and Ojama Yellow crying on Jaden's side of the field and his black coat hanging on the sidelines because he was wearing an all white uniform for some reason. The void in his memory did yield a few things, though, a series of strange, disembodied feelings that almost seemed to have belonged to someone else. Pain, power-lust, invincibility, pride, and… was it, care? Not just for someone, but also having it returned? Where had that come from? What happened? That last feeling had been a stranger to him since his parents had died. Sure, he cared about Alexis, but that was – and probably always would be – one sided; he'd forced himself to accept that fact. _

_Another gust of wind whistled around him making the bottom of his coat billow and snapped out behind him and whipped his hair against his face. He let his head slowly sink down until his chin was near touching his chest. Why did his life have to be so messed up? Why couldn't he ever seem to do anything right? Heck, he'd even managed to mess up helping Alexis, Syrus, and Hassleberry look for Jaden after that duel with Aster. Instead of being useful, he'd got himself brainwashed. Typical. Everything he touched blew up in his face. Especially, if it was something important to him. That was always when things when 'bang' the loudest._

_Chazz felt a single, mutinous tear escape the corner of his eye and trace its way down his cheek. He automatically raised his arm and wiped it away with his sleeve, _

"_I should head back – I'm losing my mind out here," he mumbled to himself, pulling his coat collar higher against the cold and then turning to head back down the pier. He lifted his eyes from the ground… and found Alexis staring back at him. Surprise sent him stumbling backwards and Alexis's hand darted forward to grab him before he could tumble into the swirling black waves below. For several moments all he could do was stare at her in shock. What was she doing out here?_

The memory suddenly splintered and faded around him leaving Chazz in darkness. What was going on? Where was he? Was he dead?

As if on cue, his entire body soundlessly screamed at him in excruciating pain. _Scratch dead – I don't think you can hurt this much _after_ you die._ Somewhere in the distance Chazz could hear footsteps coming towards him. Who was it? Had that maniac come back to finish him off after all? He had to open his eyes, had to move, had to see if now he was safe, but he didn't seem to be in control of his body any more; it wouldn't respond to his commands.

Then he felt a gentle touch on his cheek and his body stirred, awakening from its death-like state. Chazz forced his eyes to open part way and tried to focus on the face leaning over him.

"Alexis…?" His voice came out as barely a whisper as he stared up into her wide, terrified eyes with confusion. Why was she here? He had a feeling he knew at least one possible answer to that question but he couldn't concentrate well enough to remember, pain was overwhelming his mind. He felt her gently take a hold of his hand.

"I'm here. Lie still." Her voice was soft and soothing. He let his eyes slide close again and oblivion swirl him away as he listened Alexis issuing orders to other people in the room. It was alright. He was safe now. This time the blackness brought up no memories.

--

Chazz didn't know how long it was before he opened his eyes again. It could have been minutes; it could have been days. Well, it probably hadn't been minutes because he wasn't in his room anymore. The walls around him glowed along with the covers of the bed he was in and the bandages which were covering most of his body. The uncomfortable pressure of an oxygen mask was clamped over his nose and mouth lead to the conclusion that this was the infirmary. Beside him someone murmured in their sleep. Ignoring the pain that movement caused, Chazz shifted his head to see who else was in the room with him and if he hadn't only been sixteen, the shock he got would have given him a heart attack.

Alexis sat in the chair next to his bed, peacefully asleep, one of his hands grasped gently in her own. Chazz stared at her for a moment, mesmerized. _Okay, either I'm dreaming or the pain medication they're giving me is giving me really vivid hallucinations. Or maybe Alexis has lost her mind again. She'd never _actually _do this, would she? If only… if only… _

He lay very still and watched her, making the most of this rare opportunity and this almost unheard of physical contact. His ears perked up as he heard her whisper something in her sleep – a little more coherently this time.

"Chazz… what's…?"

_Now I _know_ I'm dreaming._ He continued to watch silently, wondering what she was dreaming about.

--

_Alexis glanced uninterestedly at the numbers of the dorm rooms she passed. She knew exactly where she was going after delivering so many messages from Sartorius there. By now she didn't even have to think about it, her feet just walked there on their own, but tonight was different. She wasn't delivering a message, she wanted somebody to talk to and out of everyone in the Society, he was the one she knew the best, the one that she trusted the most. After all, she had known him since Duel Monsters prep school. _

_She stopped in front of his door and reached for the handle. When the door silently swung open she glanced around the room, looking for Chazz Princeton but she didn't see him at first. His long white coat lay across his bed where it glowed eerily in the moonlight let in by the open curtains. Alexis let out a small sigh as she finally spotted his spiky black hair sticking out from over the bed. She raised an eyebrow. What was he doing down there? _

_The carpet on the floor muffled her footsteps and Chazz didn't even look up as she entered. He probably hadn't heard her. Alexis rounded the corner of the bed which he was leaning against and finally got a look at Chazz. She had to bite her lip hard to stop herself from yelling, her teeth nearly drawing blood. He was sitting on the floor with his back resting against the back of the bed, feet flat on the floor, knees bent, positioned so that he was in the darkest shadow the moonlight created. He was completely shrouded in darkness. The left sleeve of his shirt had been rolled up past his shoulder to expose his entire arm. Red droplets were slithering down his skin and slowly dripping onto the already stained towel he was sitting on so that he wouldn't leave any evidence of what he'd been up to. His right hand rested next to him the still bloody bare blade of the razor cupped in his palm. The other half healed scars and scabs marring his pale skin belied the fact that this wasn't the first time he'd gone after himself with a razor lately. How long had he been doing this to himself? A vague memory from prep school from nearly three years ago drifted to the surface of her mind. _

_It was the week after the midterm dueling exams and grades had just gone home with students the previous day for students to give to there parents. Alexis was running down the hall towards her fourth period class, a large pile of books clutched to her chest. The bell was about to ring at any second and her teacher had said that if she was late one more time he'd give her a detention, which wasn't really fair. She had gym third period and that teacher never gave them enough time to change before the dismissal bell rang, so no matter how quickly she changed she always had to sprint for her next class. _

_As she rounded the last turn, Alexis suddenly came face to back with that arrogant jerk, Chazz Princeton, who was in her homeroom. She desperately tried to stop herself from crashing into the other teen, not noticing the extremely painful limp in the boy's stride. Barely avoiding smacking into him, Alexis tripped over her own feet and stumbled, grabbing hold of his upper arm to stop herself falling flat on the floor. Chazz let out what Alexis thought was an extremely over exaggerated yelp of surprise, or maybe pain, as she tighten her grip on his arm. He shoved her off, snarling something about she should watch where she was going, and limped into his classroom. Alexis stared after him for a moment in disgust. Her head snapped up as the late bell for fourth period rang. Wonderful, now she was going to be late again. _

_Alexis blinked and continued to stare at the young duelist, who still had yet to notice her. Was that why he had yelled so loudly all those years ago? Had he been doing this to himself for that long? And why was he cutting himself? He was in the Society of Light and one of Sartorius's favorite members – shouldn't he be happy? _

_She moved slightly so that she could see his face properly – before it had been partially obscured by his bangs which had cast most of his face into even deeper shadow. His expression was almost completely blank as he stared out of the window in front of him. Not a completely unusual expression for Chazz Princeton but the worrisome part was his eyes. His dark slate gray eyes which were usually bright and cold and attentive were dull and lifeless like those of a dead man or someone being mind controlled. She felt a slight ache in her chest as she saw this. She had to help him, had to find out what was wrong. _

_Alexis opened her mouth, unsure quite how to start, _

"_Chazz… what's-?" _

_At the sound of her voice, Chazz jerked up guilty, his still dull eyes widening slightly in panic. _

"_A- A- Alexis!" he stammered out of characteristically, "What are you doing here?" _

"_Well, I wanted to talk to you," she said, leaning over and picking up the razor blade from where it had fallen about a foot away from Chazz's hand, "but it looks like I'm not the only one who needs somebody to talk to." Alexis examined the razor. The moonlight caused the metal to flash and turned the blood along the edge an inky black. She waited expectantly for an answer of some sort but none came. She sighed and sat down on the floor next to him in the pool of silvery light created by the window. Reaching out into the shadows, she gently touched his hand, her eyes locked on his face, _

"_What's wrong?" she asked quietly. He glanced sideways at her and then looked away again, eyes focusing on the red/brown stains on the ground below his left arm. _

"_Nothing," he mumbled hoarsely. "I'm fine." _

_Alexis rolled her eyes at this comment, _

"_Fine? You're not fine! You're cutting yourself with a razor blade, for pity's sake! When has that ever constituted as being fine?" Chazz didn't look up at her and she continued, "There's got to be something wrong, Chazz. This isn't like you!" _

_This made his head snap up a spark of life finally flashing up defiantly in his eyes, _

"_Not like me, huh? How would you even know? If you hadn't walked in just now you never even would have guessed! You think you know me – but you don't!" _

_Not one bit intimidated by this out burst, Alexis settled herself into a more comfortable position, _

"_Alright then, enlighten me." _

_Chazz blinked and stared at her in surprise, _

"_What?" He had obviously been expecting her to leave. _

_She shrugged, _

"_Well, you just said that I don't actually know you so enlighten me. Tell me about yourself. You've got me curios!" She smiled at him. "But first let's get that arm of yours cleaned up. I don't feel like having you bleed to death while you're talking to me." Alexis walked out to the bathroom and grabbed the necessary medical supplies from the large selection of bandages, disinfectants, and other things that the school required to be stored in the upper cabinets in case of an emergency. She came back out to find Chazz still sitting in the exact same position she had left him in. She reached a hand down to him, _

"_Come on, I can't bandage your arm when you're sitting in a corner like that." Uncertainly, he took her hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and lead into the bathroom where she had him sit on the counter top by the sink so she could see what she was doing more easily, much to his embarrassment. Alexis began to clean up the blood that had run down his arm, _

"_So what's the first thing I should know about you?" She asked as she worked. Chazz raised an eyebrow at her, _

"_You were actually being serious about that?" _

"_Of course. How about this: what was that whole thing your brothers had about 'world domination?' Were they always that weird?" _

_Chazz shook his head slightly, wincing she swabbed around a particularly deep gash, _

"_Naw, they only ended up like that after they left home and our parents died." _

"_Your parents are dead?" _

"_Did you really think I'd have to put up with Slade and Jagger if they weren't?" _

"_I don't know – I never really thought about it before. How did your parents die, if you don't mind me asking?" _

"_Car crash when I was eight. Dad fell asleep at the wheel and they went off the road, hit a solid cement wall," he stated bluntly, his voice emotionless. _

"_Oh, I'm sorry." _

_He shrugged slightly, _

"_It was a long time ago." There was silence for several minutes as Alexis finished bandaging his arm, processing this new information she had just learned about Chazz. He slid off the counter as soon as she finished securing the bandage. _

"_It's awfully late, you should probably be heading back to your room," he said. Alexis nodded, _

"_Yeah, I probably should." She walked across the room and out into the hallway, calling quietly over her shoulder, "Goodnight!" _

"_Goodnight!" Alexis heard the door click quietly shut behind her as she headed back towards her own room wondering what else Chazz wasn't telling anyone. _

As the memory/dream ended, Alexis woke up but instead of the details of the dream becoming fuzzier and fuzzier as she became more awake, they remained vibrant and clear, almost as though they had been burned into her memory. Yawning and stretching slightly Alexis opened her eyes only to find that it was still late at night and that a pair of weary slate gray eyes were contemplating her from the hospital bed.


End file.
